Trip Report: Vacation Time
First published in 2007. Reformatted 2025. I've had lots of business trips lately, and a couple of brief personal getaways last year. But it had been way too long since I had a week-long road trip vacation. The primary objective was to spend a couple days visiting my dad in Iowa, and I chose a route that would take two days to get there and three days to return. Just a reminder PIN means Permanent Installation Number and ILC means Installation Location Code; I include these for Air Force properties when I know them.Saturday, 10 March 2007
Fort Scott KS, 37-50-36, 94-42-18. Our only military history tourist stop on this day was this historic fort in eastern Kansas. It is open as a park and has numerous reconstructed buildings.Building
Building
Building
Building
General view We made it as far as Olathe, Kansas, where we stopped for the night.
Sunday, 11 March 2007
We started with some gloomy weather, but managed to have a fun day of travel. Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant KS, ILC WMMC, 38-55-00, 95-01-00. This plant was recently inactivated by the Army and is now under a contractor's control, possibly for environmental cleanup. From the main gate, we could see some administrative buildings and a curious row of four elevated water storage tanks.Building
Buildings
View from gate
Elevated water storage tanks Lincoln AF Missile Site No. 5 NE. Next on our list were some Atlas F missile sites in Nebraska. These were near the former Lincoln AFB, and were operational in the early 1960s. We found this one gated but with the security gate visible in the distance.
Security gate
View from public road
General view Lincoln AF Missile Site No. 2 NE. It was also gated, with a Quonset hut visible in the distance.
Gate
Quonset hut
General view Lincoln AF Missile Site No. 2 Water System Annex NE. Purely by chance, I noticed a familiar Butler building down and across the road from the missile site. The building supported two wells about a quarter of a mile apart.
Water system building Lincoln AF Missile Site No. 1 NE. This site is now used by Eastern Nebraska Auto Recyclers. The gentleman in charge kindly allowed us to look around and take photos. One of the two silo doors is open, and we could see that much of the silo interior is filled with old tires. The distinctive personnel entryway still stands, as does the site entrance gate.
Entrance gate
Entrance gate
Silo doors
Silo interior
Silo interior
Silo interior
Silo interior
Personnel entryway
Personnel entryway
Personnel entryway Our stopping place for the night was Offutt AFB, Nebraska. We stayed in lodging for two nights.
Monday, 12 March 2007
Glenwood Communications Site GWEN 850 IA, ILC JAGM. This was a day of fun and exploration with my dad, who lives in Glenwood, Iowa. There was no military "stuff" on the agenda, but it just so happens that dad lives a couple miles from this site so we happened to pass right by it.Main tower
Shelter
Equipment shelters
Small self-supporting tower
General view Tuesday was also a family day, and we spent the night at a motel in Glenwood, Iowa.
Wednesday, 14 March 2007
Our path took us past several former Minuteman II sites in Missouri. We paused to look at a few. Whiteman AF Missile Site N-01 MO, ILC YWJE, 38-58-14, 93-53-31. Behind the open gate, the launch control building and a hardened antenna were visible.Gate
General view
Hardened antenna Whiteman AF Missile Site A-07 MO, ILC YWJG, 38-59-46, 93-40-52. The access road was visible from the gate.
Access road
Gate Whiteman AF Missile Site A-05 MO, ILC YWJE, 38-58-25, 93-27-37. The site gate was visible from the gate at the public road.
Gate with A-05 sign and restricted area sign
Gate at public road Whiteman AF Missile Site B-01 MO, ILC YWJM, 38-55-38, 93-12-42. The launch control building and the security gate were visible from the access road.
Launch control building
Gate
General view
Access road Our overnight stop was Scott AFB, Illinois. After settling in to our room, we met the legendary Mark Morgan for dinner.
Thursday, 15 March 2007
This was an overcast day, but we had fun. First stop was the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. We spent a couple hours exploring the site, and I had some mentoring in archaeology. Nike SL-60C MO. This former Nike control area is home to a business, and they have constructed several new buildings on the site. A few Army buildings remain, including a sentry house and the pad from one of the radar towers. After checking in at the office, we were given a quick tour of the property.Building
Building
Building
Building
Building
Gate
Sentry house
Radar tower footings
Building
Building
Building Nike SL-60L MO. This former Nike launcher area is now the property of a school, and is used for school bus parking and maintenance. We first stopped at the school office, located in a newer building next to but not on the former Nike property. The principal kindly asked the transportation supervisor to give us access to the Nike buildings, and after we spoke with him, he gave us the run of the place. This site had three underground magazines, and two of them retained the original doors. The warheading building and various blast plates, entryways, hatches, and vents sit among parked school buses.
Gate
General view
General view
General view
Building
Building
Building
Building
Building
Building
Non-historic cover over magazine doors
Non-historic cover over magazine doors
Magazine doors
Magazine doors
Magazine doors
Warheading building
Warheading building
Launcher area
Magazine entryway
Magazine emergency exit
Magazine emergency exit Vichy Gap Filler Annex MO, 38-08-08, 91-46-24. Since we were so close and were doing good with time, we took a detour to visit this gap filler radar. Not many gap fillers have the radome still installed, and this is the first one I've personally seen.
Building and tower base
General view
General view Vichy Army Air Field MO, 38-07-30, 91-46-30. The gap filler is on the grounds of this former airfield. In addition to the 184-foot demountable hangar, a few buildings still remained from WWII. The FBO manager allowed me out on the ramp to get a photo of the hangar.
Hangar
Building
Building
Buildings
Buildings
Hangar and DC-3 aircraft
Hangar and DC-3 aircraft
Hangar and DC-3 aircraft We ended our day in Lebanon, Missouri.
Friday, 16 March 2007
This was a light day. Sleep in, enjoy a leisurely breakfast, and drive home. Total distance in seven days was 2,175 miles. The next morning brought bad news. An early morning telephone call informed me that my little brother Eric had died overnight. He had a stroke in his sleep and never woke up. He was 43. A memorial service--right back in Glenwood, Iowa--was set for Saturday March 24. I left work early on Friday the 23rd, and spent the night in Sabetha, Kansas, arriving in Glenwood just in time for the service. I spent Saturday night on Offutt AFB. I allowed two days for the drive home, to have some quiet time for contemplation and see some missile sites at the same time.Sunday, 25 March 2007
Eric always enjoyed my trip reports, and he was an enthusiastic visitor of Civil War battlefields and forts. I imagined him with me in spirit as I worked my way south, spending a lot of time bouncing along on hilly, muddy section roads. This day was for Eric. I think he would have enjoyed the drive. Forbes AF Missile Site No. 1 (548-1) KS. I had a view of the access road from the gate.Access road
Access road Forbes AF Missile Site No. 8 (548-8) KS. From the public road we could see an air ventilation hood.
General view
General view
General view Forbes AF Missile Site No. 7 (548-7) KS. Nothing was visible from the closed gate except the access road.
Access road Forbes AF Missile Site No. 6 (548-6) KS. From the gate and sign, the added turrets were visible at the site.
View from public road
View from public road
View from public road McConnell AF Missile Site No. 1 Water System Annex KS, 37-59-02, 96-55-55. The water system building still stands in the fenced compound.
Building
General view
General view McConnell AF Missile Site No. 1 (533-1) KS, PIN 7425, ILC PRQS, 37-58-55, 97-00-04. I observed two azimuth marker posts, one north and one northwest of the former silo.
General view
General view
Azimuth marker post north of site
Azimuth marker post northwest of site
Azimuth marker post close-up
Aximuth marker post detail McConnell AF Missile Site No. 4 Water System Annex KS, 37-41-56, 96-39-39. The building still stands in the fenced, gated compound.
Building
Building
Gate
General view McConnell AF Missile Site No. 4 (533-4) KS, PIN 7428, ILC PRQV, 37-39-42, 96-39-25. Only the access road was visible from the gate.
View from public road McConnell AF Missile Site No. 5 Water System Annex KS, 37-37-05, 96-46-19. The building still stands, inside the fenced compound.
Building
General view
General view McConnell AF Missile Site No. 5 (533-5) KS, PIN 7994, ILC PRQW, 37-34-16, 96-46-27. At this site, two concrete pads were visible from the access road.
General view
Concrete pad
Concrete pad
Access road McConnell AF Missile Site No. 6 (533-6) KS, PIN 7900, ILC PRQX, 37-30-06, 96-54-12. Only the access road was visible from the entry gate at this site.
View from public road
View from public road
View from public road Winfield Gap Filler Annex KS, 37-12-48, 96-57-00. This small radar site was hidden away behind a gate.
Gate This was a long day. 600 miles in 12.5 hours. I hope you enjoyed the ride, my brother. I spent the night in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Monday was a straightforward drive home, with no tourist stops. Updated March 29, 2025
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